Locarno’s Match Me! Introduces New Titles from Vallo Toomla, Sara Summa & Kevin Kopacka, and Bows New Voices From Europe and Beyond

Match Me! Shepherding them are 30 producers hailing from the length and breadth of Europe, plus Taiwan and the Dominican Republic, in town for the three-day event, kicking off Friday. Set up at mainly young-ish production houses, they underscore major trends now coursing through European cinema: the rise of genre and animation – such as Christophe Reveille’s “To Live and Die with Che Guevara” an animated doc feature about three guerrillas who pledged allegiance to Che Guevara – as well as films of large artistic ambition made on contained budgets, such as Taiwan’s “Goodbye North, Goodbye.” Above all, there’s a gathering shift from straight-arrow arthouse drama to genre-bending thrillers that nevertheless maintain art pics’ traditional social issue focus.

Following, a drill down on Match Me! producers, their companies and some of the banner titles hitting the Locarno market this year: Dominican Republic Ico Abréu, iFilm Eco/social issue focused over a building 20-year plus TV and experimental career, Ico is now moving into ever more substantial works such as anthology double movie “Motel” and two features in development: Historical drama “El Guerrillero y el General,” and action-thriller “Predicament” “A sordid story with the natural beauty of La Hispaniola island (Dominican Republic and Haiti) as a canvas,” says Abreu, “Predicament” turns on a principled man driven to crime to rescue his daughter. Lei González, Media Jíbara Behind coming of age drama “Mermaid” (“Sirena”), from Olivia De Camps (“Digital Bodies”) and Nayibe Tavares’ “Colosal,” Media Jíbara is a production house that centres on films from female filmmakers, emerging directors, the LGBTQ+ community and personal stories with a global reach.